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Friday, January 15, 2010

Governor Paterson was on the FAN this morning, and revealed himself to be a Jets fan with a prodigious memory of some of the (many) low points in the team's history. His recollection of Bruce Harper fumbling the opening kickoff in a 1981 playoff game against the Bills transported me back in time to Shea Stadium, where the team was playing its first playoff game in 12 years. I'll never forget the dead silence that descended upon what was until then a deliriously raucous crowd when Harper simply dropped the ball along the Jets sideline, and the Bills picked it up and ran it into the endzone. Oh man. A furious Jets comeback from a 24-0 deficit ended when Richard Todd was picked off in the endzone in the closing seconds of the game.

When asked for a prediction of Sunday's game in San Diego, the governor reluctantly picked the home team by "something like 17-14." Perhaps he was simply trying to demonstrate his independence from his advisor Bill Lynch, whose lobbying firm was paid $10,000 for its services by the team this past summer; that according to the Project Sunlight website.

Meanwhile, the Governor faces a comeback of his own in his fundraising for his re-election campaign. As alluded to in the last post, Paterson fared quite poorly in the last six months, and has just $3 million on hand. Andrew Cuomo is said to have more than five times that amount (his totals will be announced later today). The Paterson campaign provided the usual bravado.

"With rising poll numbers, growing recognition of his strong leadership in tough times, and a clearly articulated plan to rebuild New York, I share the Governor’s confidence that our campaign will raise what we need to win.” [Daily Politics]

But clearly, this governor is backed up on his own five yard line late in the 4th quarter, at least as far as the money game goes. His only hope in my view is to build enough support among influential African-American officials so as to dissuade Cuomo from running, or otherwise find a way to take him completely out of the game without resorting to illegal chop blocks.

It will be curious to see when Shelly Silver weighs in on the Cuomo - Paterson race. He has already publicly stated that he thinks Cuomo will run. Is the Assembly leader better off with Cuomo or Paterson as governor? Right now, the buzz is he's the most powerful man in Albany, so does that change if Cuomo is elected?

H. Carl McCall, a personal pal and past supporter of the Governor's, has been doing the soft-shoe over what Cuomo's intentions are and the effect on the democratic party in NY. I think Paterson could win, if the McCall and Silver camps work together to assure Paterson the NYCity Jewish and Afro-American votes. I not a racist, just a realist.